What Happened at Three Mile Island?

What Happened at Three Mile Island?

1070 WordsJun 17th, 20185 Pages

This research paper discusses the Three Mile Island incident to include what started it, the results in the aftermath, and how it could have been prevented. The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public. Its aftermath brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations. It also caused the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) to tighten and…show more content…

New equipment updates can resolve design related issues that come from the original build, and can also lead into more efficient and properly functioning equipment. An analogy which explains this follows: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission mandates that equipment with low level radiation in the US Army’s radiological safety program must post an NRC 3 form on the outside of the storage areas. This lead into the Army fielding new radiological detection devices that no longer contain ionizing radiation. The AN-VDR2 Radiac Meter was replaced with the AN-UDR 13 due to the AN-VDR-2’s low level Thorium 232 ionizing radiation detection source. With the AN-UDR 13’s updated design, ionizing radiation is not a problem that if damaged would release radiation into the environment.
Human Factors
Proper training and protocols may have solved or prevented the problem. With more problems to add to the list of chain reactions from the accident, the government had to change industry safety which in turn, increased industry safety. New study groups were used to research the incident. New organizations had to be created to conduct proper training implementing the safety measures for the power plant operators. Many new publications had to be brought into existence to have better oversight of nuclear power plant operations. A

Effects of Three Mile Island
The Three Mile Island accident took place in Middletown, Pennsylvania, on March 28, 1979. During this accident even though there was no meltdown, there was some radioactive gas that was let out into the air. As a result more than 50,000 people were evacuated from their homes (Levine 60-3). The Three Mile Island incident had a major impact on public opinion, the construction of nuclear plants, and the future of nuclear power.
Three Mile Island was a three month old…

that happened in the world, Three Mile Island Unit 2 and Chernobyl, and how we can learn from their mistakes.
Three Mille Island has two units, Unit one and Unit two. Unit one, owned and operated by Exelon, built in Susquehanna River, intention of producing power for the local people. It became operational in September 2, 1974. Three Mile Island Unit 2, owned by First Energy Company of Akron, became an operational plant in 1978. Babcock and Wilcox designed both Unit one and two of Three Mile Island…

The Three Mile Island disaster occurred on March 28, 1979. The nuclear plant, in the small community of Middleton, PA, experienced a partial meltdown in the Unit 2 reactor. Many factors contributed to the meltdown. Human error, mechanical failure, and communication breakdowns all contributed, as well as, exacerbated the disaster. Over the course of approximately one week, many theories, projections, announcements and media speculation led to widespread public fear and mistrust. Many experts considered…

Three Mile Island in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contained the most serious commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history. The events that followed taught the U.S. a lesson learned about nuclear power and the damage it can cause. The Three Mile accident paved the way for reforms in the way nuclear power plants were operated and regulated. the location of the island, the accident, the meltdown, the aftermath, and the media circus were all critical points in the lessons learned.
The location of Three…

exponentially lower emission rate, it presents its own hazards and threats—such as the Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island incidents. These accidents have many activists and politicians cautious about the prospect of using nuclear power as a complete alternative to fossil fuels—regardless nuclear plants are responsible for 11% of the energy supplied to the world annually (World Nuclear Association.) What many of the activist and politicians seem to overlook is that fossil fuels are an indefinite energy…

Nuclear Crisis at Three Mile Island
Abstract
In March of 1979, just ten miles south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Nuclear Power Plant at Three Mile Island Unit 2 came close to nuclear melt down. Despite standards set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the plant ran for several years prior to the accident under poor conditions. Communication certainly played a role in this near tragedy, as two engineers had foreseen the consequences, but their advice went unheeded. Although most…

The Three Mile Island Accident
When someone thinks of problems plaguing the world, nuclear energy is not the first thing that comes to peoples minds these days.[1]Nuclear power was once deemed the new energy of the future.[2]However, numerous nuclear power plant accidents around the world put a damper on that notion.The United States considers itself one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, but 103 nuclear reactors currently operating within her borders, one was bound to…

Three Mile Island
On March 28, 1979 a series of mechanical, electrical, and human failures led to what has been described as the worst nuclear power plant accident in the history of the United States. News of the accident rocked the nation, and its effects were keenly felt by those who lived in the shadow of the great concrete towers of Three Mile Island.
The accident began about 4:00 a.m. on March 28, 1979, when there was failure in the secondary, non-nuclear section of the plant. The main…

Three Mile Island Accident Study
1. Introduction
Based on the NRC (1), the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is a commercial nuclear plant where has two nuclear reactors (TMI-1 and TMI-2). General Public Utilities Corporation built the power plant and Metropolitan Edison Company ran and managed the plant. TMI-1 and TMI-2 reactors were pressurized water reactors; and their generated power were 802 MWe and 906 MWe respectively. TMI-2 had an accident on March 28, 1979, particularly, the reactor…

Aaron Hastings
PHILOS 1332
11 December 2014
Meltdown at Three Mile Island
Intro:
March 28, 1979
All relevant people:
Metropolitan Edison Company: Victor Stello(nuclear engineer for the plant), Jack Herbein (nuclear engineer for the plant; discussed the issue with the press and basically lied and said that everything was controlled and there was no real danger), Ed Hauser (went into the reactor to check the actual amount of radiation inside of the reactor; result was shocking=100rem/hr, coolant…